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Ceremonia
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    • AwakenPsilocybin retreat in Denver, Colorado
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    • Baja OceansideAyahuasca in Baja, Mexico
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    • MethodologyHow we evaluate evidence
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    • Trauma-Informed CarePrinciples + practice
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    • PodcastModern Enlightenment by Austin Mao
    • TalksAppearances in media
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    • Meet LuminaAI guide for readiness conversations
    • FAQCommon questions
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Check My Readiness
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Awaken together

Legal, nonprofit, science-informed plant medicine retreats held in lifelong community. Regulated ceremony, expert facilitation, and eight weeks of integration after every journey.

Check My ReadinessWatch Film

As seen on

As seen on
  • TEDx
  • Fantastic Fungi
  • Mindvalley
  • Third Wave
  • Psychedelic Therapy Frontiers

Backed by Science

Trust-building numbers before the conversation.

Studies by leading universities including Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Imperial College London show immediate and lasting benefits to psilocybin therapy.

71%
experience significant reduction in depression symptoms within four weeks
67%
rate the experience among the most meaningful and spiritually significant events of their lives
85%
increase in life satisfaction, feeling more connected to themselves and others
96%
of Ceremonia alumni experience a life-changing transformation

Chat with Lumina

A conversation about your readiness.

A short, private chat with Lumina — our compassionate AI guide trained on hundreds of journey conversations. Together we’ll map where you are, what you’re carrying, and whether this is your moment for psilocybin-assisted ceremony.

Check My ReadinessRead about Lumina
90 sec
Average completion
7
Honest questions
100%
Confidential
Lumina · your guide
Online · typically replies instantly
3 / 7
Hi — I'm Lumina. Before I show you anything about our programs, I want to ask you a few things. Sound okay?
Yes, please.
When you imagine doing this work, what's the question you're carrying?
Healing something specific (grief, anxiety, trauma)A creative or spiritual deepeningA life inflection point — career, relationship, identityI'm not sure yet. That's part of why I'm here.
Or type your own answer…

What we hear most

You're not broken. You're responding.

You're responding to a culture that pulled you away from yourself. These are the patterns we hear most often.

  • Surviving, not thriving

    You've hit the milestones — the company, the title, the lifestyle. But the days feel like managing rather than living. Something essential is missing, and you can feel it.

  • Tolerating instead of inspired

    The life you built used to light you up. Now you're getting through it. You want to feel the pull of inspiration again — to live from passion, not from obligation.

  • Surface-level, not depth

    Conversations stop at "how are you / fine / great." You're surrounded by people, and still longing for the kind of authenticity and depth where you actually get seen.

From application to integration

Nine weeks. Four phases. One arc.

  1. PREPARATION

    Preparation

    Three calls that build connection. Strangers becoming family. Practicing skills that will serve you in ceremony and for a lifetime.

  2. RETREAT

    Retreat

    A six-day retreat with three legal psilocybin ceremonies and daytime workshops for curiosity, compassion, courage, and connection.

  3. INTEGRATION

    Integration

    A four-week integration program with an optional three-month extension: weekly calls, group circles, coaching, and optional microdosing.

  4. COMMUNITY

    Community

    A lifetime community of calls, gatherings, and offers. The work continues with the people who walked beside you.

See the full method

How we work

A path you can actually follow.

Ceremony is the centerpiece, not the whole picture. The work that makes it stick happens in the weeks before and the months after. Here's the full arc.

  1. Step 01

    Discovery call

    A 30-minute conversation with a real human on our team. We learn what you're navigating, you learn how we work, and together we decide whether a ceremony is the right next step.

  2. Step 02

    Medical & psychological screening

    A clinician reviews your medications, history, and intentions. This is the gate, not a formality. About 1 in 4 applicants is referred elsewhere, that's the bar that keeps ceremony safe.

  3. Step 03

    Preparation

    Four weeks of structured prep: nervous-system regulation, somatic practices, intention-setting, and a private session with your facilitator. You arrive at ceremony already in the work.

  4. Step 04

    Ceremony

    Three to seven days at the retreat center. Trauma-informed facilitators. Music, silence, group circle, and 1:1 support. The medicine is the catalyst; the container is the medicine.

  5. Step 05

    Integration

    Eight weeks of group integration after you come home. Weekly calls, a private community, and a personal integration coach. This is where the insight becomes the new life.

  6. Step 06

    Lifelong community

    Once you're an alum, you stay an alum. Monthly community calls, alumni-only retreats, and a peer network 400+ deep. The retreat ends; the relationship doesn't.

See our safety standardsExplore the three journeys

Two sanctuaries

Where we hold space, by design.

Both retreat centers are built for this work — chosen for stillness, equipped for ceremony, run by people who know what's needed.

Colorado Sanctuary

Legal psilocybin·150 acres of Front Range foothills

Sunlit ceremony hall with vaulted ceilings and meditation cushions arranged in a circle
Colorful aerial tree nets suspended among Colorado pines
Private cabin nestled in the foothills
Tranquil pond reflecting Front Range trees and sky
Handcrafted log pergola stage by the water

Ceremony hall, suspended forest tree nets, private cabins, ponds and waterways across 150 acres of pine and aspen.

Visit the Colorado center

Baja Sanctuary

Ayahuasca·Pacific coast, Sea of Cortez

Crystal-clear pool surrounded by the Baja Pacific landscape
Serene Pacific waterfront at the Baja retreat center
Open-air cabana overlooking the Sea of Cortez
Farm-to-table meal beautifully plated with seasonal ingredients
Spacious glamping accommodation set against the Baja sky

Ocean-facing ceremony space, beachfront cabanas, vegetarian cuisine, and intimate cohorts on the Pacific coast.

Visit the Baja center

Three programs

Find your right next step.

Different doorways into the same work — pick the container that fits where you are.

Microdosing

Microdosing course

Awaken at Home

Remote · 4 months

Microdose at-home protocol with live preparation, integration calls, and lifelong-community access. For people who can't travel — or want to start with a gentler container.

$3,997

Apply→
Psilocybin

6-day Legal Psilocybin Retreat

Awaken Retreat

Denver, Colorado · 6 days

Ceremonia's flagship in-person psilocybin retreat in the Colorado Front Range. Two ceremonies, twin facilitators, and the full integration arc.

$5,997

Apply→
Ayahuasca

7-day Ayahuasca Retreat

Heal Retreat

Baja, Mexico · 7 days

Seven days of ayahuasca ceremony in Baja, Mexico, held by indigenous lineage and Ceremonia's clinical container. Deeper, longer, more rigorous.

$6,997

Apply→

Trust and credibility

  • Nonprofit

    508(c)(1)(a) faith-based organization. Our mission is healing and community — not investor returns.

  • Legal & Regulated

    Ceremonia operates under Colorado's legal psilocybin framework. Regulated, accountable, fully legal.

  • Science-Informed

    Protocols built on peer-reviewed research and the lived experience of 400+ alumni.

The science

Psychedelic therapy is not a hope. It's a literature.

More than 200 peer-reviewed studies have been published on psilocybin therapy in the last decade. Below are three of the outcomes that shape how we work — and the journals that published them.

67%
Treatment-resistant depression remission, 12-month follow-up
Johns Hopkins, JAMA Psychiatry 2022
71%
Sustained reduction in alcohol-use-disorder days at 32 weeks
NYU Langone, JAMA Psychiatry 2022
2x
Effect size of psilocybin vs. SSRIs for major depressive disorder
Carhart-Harris et al., NEJM 2021
Read the science

Voices

What our alumni share.

Real stories — many on video. Tap any card with a play badge to watch.

  • “I came in carrying a question I'd been holding for a decade. I left with a feeling — and a plan I could actually live.”
    M

    Maya R.

    Author · Boulder, CO

  • “Two decades in psychiatry didn't prepare me for what this container made possible. The clinical rigor and the heart were both real.”
    D

    Dr. James P.

    Psychiatrist · Denver, CO

  • “I expected a peak experience. What I got was a whole new operating system — and a community that's still with me a year later.”
    E

    Eli K.

    Founder · Oakland, CA

  • “What surprised me most wasn't the ceremony — it was the community I came home to. Two years on, we still talk every week.”
    R

    Rebecca S.

    Founder · Austin, TX

  • “The container was unlike anything I'd experienced. Skilled, warm, and never rushed. I felt held the whole way through.”
    D

    Daniel K.

    Therapist · Brooklyn, NY

  • “After eighteen years of meditation practice, this was the first time I felt my own heart open from the inside.”
    E

    Elena V.

    Teacher · Marin County, CA

View 200+ video testimonials
400+
Alumni
60+
Retreats
200+
Video Testimonials
5★
Reviews

Upcoming retreats

The next three cohorts.

Each cohort is small by design — typically 8–14 participants. The screening conversation is the first step.

  • Summer 2026
    Heal · 5-day psilocybin retreat
    Colorado Front Range
    Now screening — limited spots
  • Fall 2026
    Awaken · 7-day deep-dive
    Colorado Front Range
    Applications open
  • Winter 2026
    Lead · executive integration
    Baja, Mexico
    Waitlist forming
Book screening callVisit the retreat center
Austin Mao, Ceremonia founder

Founder

Austin Mao

I'm Austin — co-founder of Ceremonia, a legal nonprofit psychedelic retreat in Colorado. I've had the privilege of guiding over 600 people — from Fortune 500 executives to combat veterans — and speaking at TEDx, Mindvalley, MAPS Psychedelic Science, the Aspen Psychedelic Symposium, and Richard Branson's Mystic Summit on Necker Island.

My approach weaves Internal Family Systems, Circling, Somatic Experiencing, and Mindfulness — the work of remembering who you are and reconnecting with what inspires you. As host of the Modern Enlightenment podcast, I sit in conversation with leaders like Rick Doblin, Robin Carhart-Harris, and Louie Schwartzberg.

Read my full story

Common questions

What people ask first.

If you don't see your question here, the connection call is the right place. We'd rather answer the specific thing you're wondering than the generic version of it.

  • Is psilocybin legal in Colorado?+

    Yes. Colorado law, passed in 2022, legalized supervised psilocybin services for adults. Ceremonia operates as a state-regulated facilitator, which means our ceremonies are fully legal under Colorado state law.

  • What is a psychedelic retreat?+

    A psychedelic retreat is a multi-day, facilitator-led container in which participants prepare for, undergo, and integrate a psychedelic experience, typically psilocybin or ayahuasca. The retreat structure includes screening, preparation sessions, the ceremony itself, and post-retreat integration support.

  • Who are Ceremonia retreats for?+

    Adults seeking deeper preparation, healing, or integration through ceremonial psychedelic work. Participants come for many reasons — processing grief, breaking stuck patterns, reconnecting with purpose, deepening their inner life. Serious medical or psychiatric contraindications may affect eligibility; our screening process assesses fit individually.

  • How safe is psychedelic therapy?+

    When conducted in a supervised, screened, trauma-informed setting, psilocybin therapy has a strong safety profile in clinical research. Risks rise sharply outside such settings. Ceremonia uses medical and psychological screening, on-site clinicians, and a low participant-to-facilitator ratio to keep ceremony safe.

  • What happens at a Ceremonia retreat?+

    A typical retreat runs three to seven days at our Colorado property. Days include morning movement and meditation, a 6–8 hour ceremony with live music and 1:1 facilitator support, group integration circles, somatic bodywork, and time in nature. You leave with a personalized integration plan.

  • How much does a Ceremonia retreat cost?+

    Retreat tuition ranges from $5,000 to $25,000 depending on length, accommodations, and program. Tuition includes screening, preparation, the retreat itself, eight weeks of post-retreat integration, and lifelong alumni community access. Payment plans are available for most programs.

  • How do I prepare for a psychedelic retreat?+

    Preparation begins weeks before ceremony. We guide you through nervous-system regulation practices, intention-setting, dietary and medication adjustments, and a private 1:1 session with your facilitator. Most participants describe preparation as half the work.

  • How do I get started with Ceremonia?+

    Book a free 30-minute connection call. A member of our team will walk you through the retreat options, answer your questions, and help you assess whether ceremony is the right next step for you at this time.

Where to go next

Keep reading.

Begin

  • Book a free 30-minute connection callStart with a real conversation, not a form.
  • Take the 5-minute retreat readiness quizSee whether ceremony is the right next step for you.
  • Apply for an upcoming retreat cohortFor people who already know.

Learn

  • The science of psilocybin therapyPeer-reviewed research, plain-English explainers.
  • How we keep psychedelic ceremony safeScreening, clinicians, trauma-informed protocols.
  • The Heal journey — for trauma and depressionWhat to expect from a therapeutic retreat.

Explore

  • Visit the Colorado retreat center150 acres in the Front Range foothills.
  • Read alumni testimonialsStories from 400+ people who have walked through.
  • Meet founder Austin MaoWhy Ceremonia exists, in his own words.
  • The Ceremonia integration course8-week program for post-ceremony work.

Begin

Ready to begin?

Have an honest conversation with Lumina to see if Ceremonia fits where you are — or speak with a human about what you're looking for.

Book a connection callChat with Lumina

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Ceremonia

A nonprofit sanctuary in the Colorado Front Range, dedicated to the safe and ceremonial use of psilocybin under Colorado's regulated framework.

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